Time Warner Cable adds Longhorn Network

Time Warner Cable picked up ESPN’s Longhorn Network on Friday, one day before the network begins its third season broadcasting University of Texas football games and athletic events.

An ESPN spokeswoman said Longhorn Network is now available in 11.4 million households nationwide.

The Time Warner deal, along with previously announced deals, gives LHN carriage on the dominant cable carrier in most major Texas markets save Houston, where Comcast remains along with DirecTV and Dish Network the only holdouts among the nation’s 10 largest distributors to carry the ESPN –owned network. LHN is available in Houston on AT&T U-verse and in Spring on Charter Communications.

”We’re really excited to have reached an agreement that brings Longhorn Network’s programming to Time Warner Cable,” said Andrew Rosenberg, Time Warner’s senior vice president, content acquisition. “We know we count a lot of UT fans among our customers, and we’ve worked hard with our colleagues at ESPN to finalize an agreement in time to bring them tomorrow’s game.”

Friday’s announcement comes less than a week after Justin Connolly, ESPN’s senior vice president for college networks programming, said no deals were imminent to add either Time Warner or Comcast in the near future.

David Preschlack, executive vice president, Disney and ESPN Media Networks, said in a statement: “We are extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable in time for college football.”

LHN will carry three Texas games this season against New Mexico State on Friday, Ole Miss on Sept. 14 and Kansas on Nov. 2.

ESPN in 2010 announced its 20-year agreement to operate the 24-hour channel dedicated to Texas athletics.